You see the name on street signs, water bills, and in park names – but have you ever wondered what’s behind the name “Moulton?”

The Moulton family - Orange County pioneers, whose cattle once grazed on hillsides that are now city streets in Laguna Hills and whose ranching operations once spanned the hillsides of what would be Aliso Viejo – helped shape modern day south county.

On Oct. 12, as the city of Aliso Viejo celebrated its founding, descendants of the Moultons traveled from across the state to reunite and see what’s become of the almost 22,000-acre ranch that started a tradition of ranching and farming that persists in the family today.

Traveling from across the state and from Arizona, 30 to 40 family descendants paid a visit to the city of Aliso Viejo’s “Founder’s Day” celebration, an event recognizing the 12-year-old city’s ranch heritage. The city dedicated the event to the Moulton family this year.

Jane Barnes, granddaughter of Nellie Gail and Lewis F. Moulton, said before the event she hoped she and her two brothers could reconstruct a past of wide open spaces on the Moulton Ranch, of the days of roping and roundups. The reunion is the biggest of its kind since a send-off at the ranch in 1972, she said.

“I hope that between my two brothers and myself, that we can, you know, give them some information and knowledge and appreciation of the way it used to be compared with the way it is now,” Barnes said.

TRACING THE MOULTON HISTORY

Jane’s memories of Lewis F. Moulton are sparse – he died in 1938 when she was not yet three years old, she said. Recounting her past on a sunny afternoon at the ranch she lives on in Julian Calif., Jane’s clearest memory of him is the day he died, with “everyone “bustling around.”

But Moulton’s memory – and his impact on the family – resounded through the lives of his grandchildren. For Jane, his voice echoed through the oral history of her mother Charlotte, who died in 2006. All three children of Charlotte – she, Glenn, and Lewie – all live on ranches in other parts of California.

“My mother tells me that my grandfather used to say . . . that the way to get into the hearts of your men is to speak their mother tongue,” Barnes said. “Another thing he used to say was the best fertilizer on the ranch is the shadow of the owner,” Barnes said. “My mother used to quote her grandfather a lot.”

Jane, whose father took over management of about 14,000 acres of the ranch in 1951, remembers Orange County’s wide open spaces, when driving cross-county on two lane highway, you were more likely to hit an oak tree than another car on a commute. Her father, Glenn Mathis, managed a portion of the ranch along with his sister-in-law and cowgirl Louise Hanson.

Before development in Orange County pushed the cattle and agricultural traditions of the family to other parts of the state, Barnes and her two brothers rode horses, roped cattle, and harvested grain on the Moulton Ranch that stretched across Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, portions of Lake Forest and Laguna Hills inland, and along the coast from Salt Creek to Monarch Bay.

“It was a beautiful cattle ranch,” Barnes said, of the area that she lived for almost four years before she went off to college in 1954.”I rode every now and then, and I always enjoyed it.”

As development grew, portions of the ranch were sold off. By the time Mission Viejo Company purchased 6,600 acres of the ranch in 1976, the family had already “kind of scattered” to other parts of the state, Barnes said.

But she and her two brothers, Glenn Mathis Jr., and Lewie Mathis, aside from spending time in school, spent their lives on ranches after leaving south Orange County. Glenn Mathis Jr. now lives and works cattle ranching and almond farming in Maxwell, Calif. Love of the ranch life “gets in your blood and you don’t want to get away from it,” he said.

Portrait of Irving Moulton and Lewis Moulton on right. Lewis was born on January 17, 1854. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Jane Barnes stands in an oak grove on her ranch in Julian where she lives with her husband, Franklin "Woody" Barnes, late one afternoon in September. Barnes spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, currently Aliso Viejo, and is the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Jared Mathis, left, and Scott Barnes, great grandsons of Nellie Gail Moulton, in Monarch Bay, the gated community located on Pacific Coast Highway and Crown Valley Parkway in Dana Point. The land is part of what once was the Moulton Ranch. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A cat sits in the window of one of the buildings on the ranch of Jane Barnes, the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton, in Julian. Barnes spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, which later became the city of Aliso Viejo. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Deer wander through a pear orchard near the home of Jane Barnes in Julian. Barnes, the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton, spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, currently the city of Aliso Viejo. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Jane Barnes holds a watercolor she painted of her husband, Franklin "Woody" Barnes, outside her home in Julian. Barnes spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, which her family owned, currently Aliso Viejo, and is the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Deer wander through a pear orchard near the home of Jane Barnes in Julian. Barnes, the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton, spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, which later became the city of Aliso Viejo. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Jane Barnes walks to the studio where she paints on her ranch in Julian late one afternoon in September. Barnes spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, which her family owned, currently Aliso Viejo, and is the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A watercolor painted by Jane Barnes of Julian. Barnes spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, which her family owned, currently Aliso Viejo, and is the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
This photo shows the Edwards Theaters (on bottom) on Aliso Creek Road as the city of Aliso Viejo was being developed. In 1976 the Mission Viejo Co. purchased 6,600 acres of the remaining Moulton Ranch for the planned community of Aliso Viejo. The first housing units in the city, condominiums, were occupied in 1982. Bob Bunyan, president of the Aliso Viejo Community Association, wrote the book "Images of America: Aliso Viejo" that chronicles the history of the land and birth of the city. COURTESY OF BOB BUNYAN
This photo shows the Moulton children in a horse and buggy in the 1930's. COURTESY OF BOB BUNYAN
Deer and turkeys wander through a pear orchard near the home of Jane Barnes in Julian. Barnes, the granddaughter of Nellie Gail Moulton, spent her childhood living in Villa Park and on the Moulton Ranch, which later became the city of Aliso Viejo. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
With Saddleback Mountain in the background, ranchers branding a calf at corrals near Aliso Creek at the Moulton Ranch during a roundup, in a photo Barnes believes dates back to 1956. Lewie Mathis, Jane's brother, is riding horseback. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Hereford cattle stand on the grassland at the Moulton Ranch. Barnes believes this photo dates back to 1956.
Hereford cattle stand in corrals on the Moulton Ranch, 6,600 acres of which were purchased by Mission Viejo Company to build Aliso Viejo. Residents will have a rare chance Saturday, at the city's Founder's Day event, to hear the stories behind life on the ranch before development moved ranching elsewhere for the Moulton family descendants. Barnes believes this photo dates back to 1956. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Hereford cattle stand in corrals on the Moulton Ranch, 6,600 acres of which were purchased by Mission Viejo Company to build Aliso Viejo. Residents will have a rare chance Saturday, at the city's Founder's Day event, to hear the stories behind life on the ranch before development moved ranching elsewhere for the Moulton family descendants. Barnes believes this photo dates back to 1956. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Lewis Moulton with baby Charlotte in wicker stroller at the beach circa 1910. Nellie Gail is mostly hidden behind them. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Lewis Moulton with cigar in mouth kneeling over baby Charlotte. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Charlotte at Three Arch Bay with a friend. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
A Hereford cow bearing the L.F. Moulton brand ambles toward the herd on the Moulton Ranch, as a foreman swings a rope during a roundup. Barnes believes this photo dates back to 1956. This cattle ranching scene represents what used to occur on the Moulton Ranch, portions of which made up what is today Aliso Viejo. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Scott Barnes believes this is probably the barn from the southern end of the Moulton Ranch which was moved to the present day “Aliso Viejo Ranch” where the Founder's Day celebration will be held. Photo taken in 1976. BY BEVERLY CHANDLER, PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES
Hereford cattle seen from atop a hill at the Moulton Ranch. COURTESY OF SCOTT BARNES

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